A brand new Claire
by aMyCaItLiN
Summary: What if claire wasnt the weak girl at all? She comes to Morganville a completely different person.Please read & review
1. Chapter 1

_Claire's point of view _

Where the hell was I meant to stay in this hell hole? I was definitely not staying on campus; all the boys seemed to be jocks and to be blunt, complete idiots. The girls were like pack animals travelling around giggling like hyenas and being generally irritating. I saw a coffee shop "Common Grounds" it was called. My god! Could this day get any worse, a coffee shop, really? I pulled my car up beside the pavement climbed out and stomped into the shop.

_Oliver's point of view _

I heard the door open and felt the warm blast of air. I didn't take much notice, people walked in and out at all times during the day. Until I heard her talk, her voice was unfamiliar and she spoke with confidence as she boldly said "excuse me". At this point I turned around. She was young around 17 and had long curly brown hair, she wore tight skinny jeans, knee high heeled boots, a red tank top and a leather jacket, her lips were painted blood red and her eyes dramatically lined with black. I replied with a simple "yes" wondering who she was. She then asked if there was anywhere she could stay at for a while. I told her that the only place I could think of would be the Glass House, and reluctantly gave her directions. She then sauntered off with a cocky air about her. I instantly set of to find Amelia.

_Claire's point of view_

Bleurgh! I already hated this town and I hadn't even been here for 1 day yet. I walked to my car climbed in and started the engine. I turned up the radio and followed the directions that the old hippie guy from the coffee shop had given me. I pulled up next to the large house, stopped the car, and walked up to the door, I knocked loudly, I couldn't wait to see what "pleasures" this house held for me.

_Shane's point of view_

There was a loud abrupt knock on the door. I paused my zombie game and dragged myself to my feet. Couldn't a guy get 10 minutes zombie shooting time around here? I opened the door and a girl, a hot girl stood on the step. I just stared. Who was she? She waved her hand in front of my face, and I realised that I had been staring for a while now. She sighed and said "some guy said you had a room I could rent for a while?" I stammered back "Erm, yes but you would have to talk to Michael, he owns the place"

"Oh, okay do you know when he would be back?"

"Sometime soon"

"Well are you going to invite me in, or carry on drooling all over my boots?"

"Come in" I said back to her in a state of bewilderment. As if she said that to me! As if I behaved that way, I normally had girls drooling on my shoes within 10 seconds. She rolled her eyes and pushed past me in to the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters involved that goes to Rachel Caine.

A/N : sorry it's short, but the next chapter will be longer I promise. R&R please

Chapter 2

Shane's point of view 

As soon as she was in the house, she boldly began exploring and soon came back demanding "how many other people live here?"

"Me, Michael, Eve and If Michael says yes, you too" I replied still feeling a little dazed. She rolled her eyes, as if dreading the thought of living with so many people. I silently laughed, and couldn't wait until she saw what freaks she would actually be living with.

Claire's point of view 

"You going to tell me your name or what?" I said, tilting my head to the side. "Shane" he simply said, no apologies or adornments, I liked that. "I'm Claire" I said thinking I should at least give him that "So, want to play some video games until Michael comes back?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure, but you know I'm going to beat you right?" He laughed at that, it was loud and genuine, it felt normal and normalcy wasn't something I normally sought for, but I sounded beautiful. I wasn't going to let that show though. You let your feeling show and you get hurt. So instead I smiled cockily and chuckled. We walked through to the living area; he threw a remote at me and restarted his game.

Shane's point of view 

She was beating me. The first person ever to beat me, I was shocked. My mouth hung open in disbelief; she had even beaten my high score by a considerable margin. She began laughing and she looked even prettier when she was happy, she noticed me looking at her with a small, sly smile on my face and stopped laughing, I was disappointed to see that hard look on her face again.

Claire's point of view

I had laughed honestly and truly laughed for the first time in a long time. Then I noticed Shane staring at me and the laughter dried up in my throat. He smirked at me, and he looked just like a jock. The door opened and a small black haired girl and a handsome boy walked through it, laughing together. Then they noticed me.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N : please review because I don't know if people like this and are reading it & I would love any advice anyone could give to me. Sorry for being awkward and practically begging for reviews but ….. please :D

Chapter 3 

CPOV

All the laughter stopped and silence echoed around the room. A few minutes later the handsome man who I presumed to be Michael broke the silence, and even though he spoke only loud enough for it to be audible to human ears, his voice sounded deafening after the silence. "Shane, who's this?" he said, not intentionally being rude, but sounding that way after all. "Michael, don't be rude, this is Claire and she's here about the spare room" Shane snapped back, sounding equally as rude although the venom in his voice wasn't directed at me so I didn't really care. "Hi" I said, sounding cocky and again I really couldn't be bothered less. Shane smirked at me looking more than a little pleased at my sarcastic remark. Sicko, but hey, I smiled back. "Before you ask, yes I'm 17 and yes I have the money to pay for it every month, so can I stay?" I said being very open about the matter, there was no point in pulling punches. "Erm, I guess so" Michael said still sounding a little unsure and reluctant. "Great" I replied mustering up all the courage I could gather and then turned round and said "Oi, Shane, help me with my stuff will you?" He nodded dragged himself up off the couch and followed me to the door where I stood waiting with my car keys in hand. "I hope you've got at least a bit of muscle on that scrawny frame of yours" I smirked at him hoping to get a reaction but all I got was a smirk back and the words "baby, you have no idea."

SPOV

She wasn't joking when she said I would need some muscle to take all this up the stairs and into her new room. God, how much stuff did one girl need? There was 3 suitcases and 2 duffel bags that all looked at bursting point. She laughed at the horror stricken look on my face at the sight of her belongings. I sighed and picked up one of the duffel bags slung the handle over my chest and picked up a suitcase in each hand and carted them through the open doorway and up to the empty room that was now Claire's. I just dropped them on the floor, panting, struggling for each breath I drew into my lungs. Now don't get me wrong, I am physically fit, I fight vampires every day of my life, but I was panting at carrying some suitcases up the stairs. That alone should tell you how heavy they were. In the next few minutes Claire was there with the last remaining duffel bag and suitcase, her breathing was normal. God. Seriously. As soon as she saw the pained expression on my face she began to laugh, and soon after it turned into hysterics. I couldn't help but laugh along with her and it felt good to laugh. To be happy, as I laughed I stared at her face and realised that not only was she hot but she was incredibly beautiful. That single thought alone sobered me up a little, enough to ask her if she wanted to go back downstairs and get better acquainted with the people she would be living with for the considerable future. Well, actually it was more like "hey, you want to go chill with Michael and Eve for a little bit?"

CPOV 

Shane had just asked me a question. I looked up at him with the tears from my laughter glistening in my eyes and asked him what he had said. He gave me a little smile and repeated his question. I responded with a yes, and so we walked downstairs, me still chuckling a little and him still smiling at my unexpected naivety. We walked into the living room. It felt strange. Michael and Eve saw us and smiled. It felt like I belonged.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:  Happy Christmas guys, hope you enjoy this chapter and have a great holiday. As always if you have any advice or comments please review.

Chapter 4 

Claire's point of view 

That feeling inside my chest, penetrating right through to my heart was strange, unfamiliar and beautiful. I belonged. I stopped dead in my tracks and just stared I must have looked strange, but at that moment, I really didn't care.

After a few seconds I walked into the living room and took a seat on the sofa next to Shane. Michael was sat in a well-worn armchair plucking away at a guitar, not really playing it, but creating a beautiful melody all the same. Eve was curled up on the floor leaning against the sofa at Shane's feet, smiling wistfully at Michael. I smiled at her recognising the signs of love in her eyes and smile.

Shane just kicked her lightly and told her to go make dinner; she punched him back and pretended to be irritated. It seemed like a familiar routine, I wondered how long they had known each other.

Shane and Michael started up an easy conversation about which one of them would win in the zombie game, at this point I thought I would at least try and say something; if I wanted to stay I was going to have to say something at some point. So gathering up all my courage "I could beat you both in my sleep". Michael and Shane both laughed at the same time, even though I had beaten Shane he was still confident he could beat me.

I played Michael first beating him by a large margin, he just looked stunned, I smirked. I then turned to give Shane a look, slowly raising my eyebrows in challenge. "Hell no, I'm not getting humiliated I give in. You win". I said nothing and walked into the kitchen realising that I hadn't spoken to Eve at all yet.

I walked into the kitchen. Eve was stood at the oven stirring what looked like chilli. She turned around when she saw me come in and smiled. "hey" she said "we haven't had the chance to speak yet. My name is Eve". I smiled back and told her that I was Claire, I complimented her on what she was wearing liking her style even if it was a bit gothic. She wore a ripped black vest top with a purple layer on underneath, a tutu skirt with purple tights and cute ballerina flats, black of course.

Shane came in and grabbed a coke nudging Eve and giving me a sly smile and slow wink. Eve smirked at this. As soon as Shane had left the room she said "he likes you, you know", smiling throughout what she said. I laughed. She only rolled her eyes at my blatant disbelief, this made me laugh even more. We had hardly spoken at all but we seemed to connect. Yes it sounds cheesy but, I felt as if I could tell her anything and I knew that she was going to be a very good friend.

We had dinner, and I fit into the conversation perfectly. The easy banter between Eve and Shane showed me that though they knew each other and were friends but there were no romantic feelings involved in their relationship. But Eve and Michael was a completely different matter they would cautiously glance at each other and if the other was looking immediately glance back down at their plates, showing their mutual interest in one another. It was cute and endearing. Me and Shane shared several knowing looks, these moments were alien to me. I had never really been part of a family like this. My family had always just expected me to do well and have friends and socialise, never really showing me how to love and have real friendships. I decided that I liked these dynamics and I began to wish that I'd had it all my life. By the end of the meal my cheeks hurt from smiling and my throat had begun to hurt from talking so much. I very rarely spoke at all preferring a book. Although you would never guess that from the way I looked and dressed. It was nearly 12 o clock by the time we were all too tired to do anything but go up to bed.

My suitcases and bags were still on the floor, and I choose to deal with them tomorrow. I fell on the bed, satisfied with the night and my new roommates and fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up early at 6 o clock; I took a shower. I spent about 20 minutes under the warm spray of water, just relaxing before I had to go out and face her day at college. I stepped out of the shower and realised with a shock that I hadn't brought any clothes with me into the bathroom. So I wrapped a towel around me it was pretty short. I hoped no one was up. I walked out onto the landing, heading towards my door. I was self-consciously pulling on the bottom of the towel, when I ran into something hard. It was Shane and I was mortified. Even he stammered a few times before regaining his composure and then pulled his legendary smirk up on his face, his approving look at my attire only made me blush harder. I slid past him, unknowingly sliding my still wet body against his clothed one. I looked back at him, he was simply staring at my retreating form. Now I smirked. I walked into my room and shut the door gently behind me. I pulled my hair into a low side ponytail and slipped on a pair of high waisted shorts, black tights and a cute blouse with birds in different colours on, my converse high tops and my treasured leather jacket. I followed this by layering my eyes with black and painted my lips a glossy pink, I grabbed my shoulder bag, and went downstairs ready to go to school.

Shanes point of view 

She walked downstairs looking totally composed and wearing an outfit that on anyone else would have looked strange, but on her looked totally amazing and showed off her brilliant figure. The composure she showed annoyed me. I was still shook up about this morning's meeting; it was all I could think about. She didn't look like she had that problem and she was just sauntering down the stairs.

I definitely wasn't going to show how shaken-up I was and so I shouted up at her " I liked what you were wearing before better." She noticed me and sent me a sexy smile that rattled my already fragile control. "Shame really isn't it." She snarled back at me. "Where are you going anyway?" I asked wondering why she was up and dressed at this time of the morning. "To school, I have advanced chemistry this morning." Advanced chemistry, this chick must be smart, I liked that. "Have fun" I said as I walked into the kitchen to grab some coffee. I had just poured the coffee into the cup, when a slim hand reached around me, grabbed the coffee and walked away giggling as she sipped on my coffee. I slowly turned around glared at Claire as she stood looking innocent as she drank my coffee. I swatted her lightly around the head "I don't have time for thieves like you, some people have to work you know." I tauntingly said. "If I put the towel back on, would you have time for me then?" she said back, looking enticingly down at her shoes, almost as if she was embarrassed. "If you're not even in the towel, then I will always have time for you" I whispered in her ear as I brushed past her on my way to the stairs to get changed ready for work.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys. Hope you all had a nice Christmas. I loved your reviews and if you do have any ideas I would love to hear them so just send them to me. Anyway enjoy the chapter and have a happy new year. Please review and send me your ideas. Thank you.

Chapter 5 

Claire's point of view 

God, he annoys me, but the more he annoys me, the more time I want to spend with him. All I can do is think about him, and about what I could have said to him. I was at school and was on my way to my first class. It was advanced chemistry, the class of my dreams. I was good at it and I enjoyed it. But I had the suspicious feeling that all I would be able to think about during my first lesson was Shane.

Shane's point of view 

I was on my way to work. Work calmed me down. Chopping things up calmed me down. She didn't, she made me feel strange. As if somehow she made me a different person, I liked that person. I arrived at work and began my usual routine of chopping and slicing at meat. She kept running through my mind, the way she smiled, the way she was cocky and confident, yet shy and reserved at the same time. All I could think about was her.

Claire's point of view 

I walked into the chemistry lab and took a seat in the back corner near the window. A few minutes later a group of people walked in, they all split off to sit into twos. All except one boy, he came and sat next to me. He looked at me for a few moments before smiling and telling me his name was Dean. "Hey" I said back " I'm Claire." He smiled again. He was handsome in a strange way, his face looked like it could have been carved out of marble, his skin was perfect. His friends looked the same way. They kept glancing back and giggling at us sat together at the back. He noticed me looking at them and quickly leapt to apologise for them "sorry about them, I have no idea what there laughing at." He said with a slightly embarrassed, nervous look on his face. "It's okay" I replied. After that a steady stream of conversation followed whilst the rest of the class entered and sat down, and after that whispered conversation as the teacher began the lesson. For advanced chemistry it was pretty simple stuff, so it was easy to keep up with the teacher and continue or hushed conversation. Once the class was over and I was stood up and ready to leave, he said "hey, there is a party tonight over in the dorms, want to come?"

"I'll see if I can make it" I said with a smile, before slinging my bag over my shoulder and walking out of the classroom.

Shane's point of view 

I was on the stairs when she came home it must have looked like I was waiting for her. I wasn't. I was just thinking about everything, but mainly her. She gave me a funny look "what are you doing sat on the stairs like that? Waiting for me? Did you miss me that much?" she said with her usual cocky tone, that I thought was an act to cover up some of her insecurities.

"Babe" I replied "you wish I was waiting for you, and if I had missed you, you would know about it" I stood up and walked down the rest of the stairs. Her phone started ringing. I stopped right in front of her, not paying any attention to her personal space as she answered it. I waited as she said talked to someone called Dean about a party tonight. As she said bye and hung up, I had a strange feeling in my chest that she would be talking to this guy. "Who is this Dean then?" I sneakily said as I moved closer to her. "Oh, just this guy from chemistry today" she replied. She had begun to look nervous and I had the feeling it was due to our close proximity to one another. "Oh, just some guy" I cockily said back "then why are you going to a party with him tonight?"

"Jealous?" she asked. I was so close now we were almost touching. "Give me half an hour and I can make you forget all about 'Dean'" I said as I purposely moved my face towards hers. I stopped an inch away from her mouth, then gently whispered "you going to let Dean see you in that towel, dripping wet?" I then pulled away and walked into the kitchen gently chuckling at my unfair move. But hey, it shook her up.

Claire's point of view 

He made me so mad. Why did he think he had the right to do that? If he had kissed me he would be sporting a very unattractive black eye right now. It seemed like every time I saw him he invaded my personal space and made me feel different somehow. I liked how he made me feel, and that just made me even more angry, at him and at myself. I laid on my bed and not long afterwards my eyes began to close and I fell asleep.

I woke up a couple of hours later and realised it was time to get ready for the party. I pulled my hair out if the ponytail and loosely curled it, I decided to go for the side fringe and swept that over too. I shaded my eyes in a smoky look and re-applied my eyeliner and mascara, so that my eyes were noticeable and dark. I put on the deepest shade of red lipstick I owned, and then it was time for the clothes.

I went through all of my suitcases and one of my duffel bags until I found what I was looking for. My red pleated dress. It was tight and high necked at the top. It was belted at the waist with a thin black belt and then came out at the bottom in pleats. It was quite short only reaching mid-thigh. I decided against tights. So I put on my heels. They were black and simple. I got my black shoulder bag and cropped leather jacket just to pull on until I reached the party.

I was walking down stairs very carefully so I didn't trip on my heels. Great, Shane was sat at the bottom, almost as if he was waiting for me.

Shane's point of view 

I stood up when I felt her footsteps on the stairs. I turned round, and froze. She looked amazing. The dress showed her curves and the heels lengthened her legs so they looked miles long. I realised I was still staring and coughed slightly as I turned red. Her eyes looked stunning, and her lips looked good enough to eat. She was beautiful, sexy and smart. She smirked at the dumbfounded look on my face and then sauntered past me, being sure to brush against me, as had become our habit. She stopped as she reached the door, turned around and said "He might not be seeing me in a towel dripping wet, but he will be seeing me in this." After that comment she shut the door behind her. I think I was falling for her. This wasn't good.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Really sorry about how long this took, I had an exam today and all next week. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for all your reviews they made me SO happy :D.

Chapter 6

Claire's point of view 

I pulled up in front of the dorms. As soon as I got out of the car I could hear the music and shouts of drunken people. I followed the sound and walked through the door. I walked around for a bit looking for a familiar face. Dean saw me first and sauntered over, he grabbed an un-opened beer of a table. He smiled at me and said "glad you could make it", he handed me the beer. I opened it expertly, something that seemed to shock him. It was my turn to smile as I looked at his face. I looked around, as usual with a college party there were people attempting to chug beer as fast as possible, people making out in every corner. The thing that surprised me most was the people dancing in the middle of the room. Most of them were drunk and were alternating between standing there making out and dancing. Dean saw me looking and then with a taunting look on his face dragged me into the middle of the make-shift dance floor.

It was like a scene out of dirty dancing. My arms were behind his neck and his hands were on his waist, one of his legs was between mine, our chests touching. He was so tall my face was opposite his chest and I couldn't help but notice that he had perfectly defined muscles. After about 10 minutes of the close contact, I needed another drink.

One drink turned into several and from then on everything was a blur.

Shane's point of view 

It was nearly 3 am and Claire still wasn't back yet. I was lying on the couch, and this time I wasn't going to deny it. I was waiting for her. About twenty minutes later the front door opened and I heard two voices through the open door.

One was obviously male and the other was slurred but was undeniably Claire's voice. I practically jogged to the door. Their faces were inches apart, and it was clear they were about to kiss. I cleared my throat and they jumped apart.

Claire groaned and rolled her eyes at me. "Thanks for bringing her home" I said to the boy stood in the doorway with her. I grabbed her elbow and gently dragged her inside. She tripped and fell against my chest. She began to giggle obviously drunk. "Bye Dean" she said as I shut the door.

"Seriously Claire?" I asked a hint of humour in my voice. "yupp" she said "it was fun, you need to loosen up a bit." With every word she poked a finger into my chest. "I'm going to go upstairs, and you know sleep and stuff" she laughed.

After she tripped on the first step, I sighed and moved to help her up. By the fifth step I gave up and picked her up bridal style.

I opened the door to her room rather awkwardly and gently set her on the floor. I stood by the door not entirely sure what to say or do. She had seemed to forget that I was in the room and she kicked off her heels and then slid out of the dress. My eyes popped out of my head.

"Claire" I said. She turned round. Oh god. She had her belly button pierced. "I'm going to go."

"Okay" she said whilst walking over to me. She reached up and gently kissed me on the lips. "Thanks Shane". She walked over to the bed and curled up with-out a second glance ant me closed her eyes. I sighed and snuck out.

I went back into my own bedroom. Collapsing on the bed I tried to forget about the events of tonight, but with little success, I eventually got up and got ready for bed. Stripping down to just my boxers reminded me of Claire stripping right in front of me, kissing me. Everything thing I did reminded me of her.

I laid on the bed and closed my eyes hoping for a brief escape from the madness that had become my life. A month ago everything was different, there was no Claire. The fact that once she wasn't here seemed strange to me.

After what seemed like forever, I drifted off into dreams about Claire.

Claire's point of view 

I woke up to a pounding in my head. I needed an aspirin and coffee, now. I got up and was almost out of the door, swaying precariously, when I realised that I was only wearing my black lacy bra and thong. I only took a moment to think about how I had lost my clothes before dismissing it.

I pulled on a crop top and a pair of sweats cut off and pulled tight around the bottom at the ankles, pulling my hair into a ponytail as I left. I walked down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. To my extreme displeasure Shane was stood by the coffee pot. I walked up behind him and took his coffee. His head snapped around and that familiar smirk spread across his face. He was bare-chested and wearing sweats similar to my own. "You look ….. lovely this morning" he said trying to hold back his laughter. I just growled and found an aspirin swallowing it quickly.

I felt something hard behind my back and realised it was Shane's chest. "move" I said.

"you weren't saying that last night when you kissed me" he whispered, his warm breath brushing my ear.

"what?" I said loudly, not recalling this vital piece of information.

"you don't remember" he sighed sounding disappointed.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N :  I'm really disappointed with this chapter, it took so long to write and it definitely isn't my best work. A big thank you to everyone who reviewed :)

Claire's point of view

I turned around, he was still pressed tightly against my back. Our chests collided and I looked up into his eyes. "I kissed you?" I asked. He looked hurt and that's what confused me the most. Suddenly there was a loud knocking at the door. I slid around Shane and walked towards it. The person who stood behind it looked at me and smiled. "Hey, you left this in my car last night, I thought I would return it, I also wanted to do this" Dean said and stepped forward, leaned down and kissed me. It was sweet, and slow, his tongue dancing with mine in an intimate dance. One of his hands at my back clutching the purse he had brought for me whilst trying to drag me closer, the other at my cheek. As we pulled apart I smiled, grabbed the purse he was holding in one hand and threw it behind me, only turning around enough to notice that someone was stood there watching as we kissed. It was Shane, and the hurt that glistened in his eyes before was nothing compared to what was now blazing in his eyes. "Dean can we talk later" I asked still staring at Shane. "Erm, yea sure" he replied sounding confused, I still couldn't turn to look at him. I felt the door shut behind me, I was still staring at Shane. After a while he made a disgruntled noise and ran upstairs.

I sat on the stairs for a while wondering why I felt like I had betrayed Shane. After a while the door opened and Eve floated in followed by Michael.

I realised how little I had talked to Eve, and smiled at her, she smiled back and skipped towards me. The skipping totally contrasted with her gothic clothing, today it consisted of black skin tight jeans with holes at the knees and a black vest top with a leather jacket, and gorgeous purple heels . She saw the confused look on my face gripped my hand and dragged me into the privacy of the kitchen. I glanced behind me to see Michael smile sympathetically my way then trot up the stairs.

Eve's point of view 

I sat down, patting the chair next to me for Claire. She had a slightly amused look on her face. "Hey" I said "were the only two girls in this house if you can't talk to me about it, who can you talk to? Claire nodded sat and started telling me about the party, waking up this morning and being told she had kissed Shane and then Dean showing up at the door and kissing her. I listened through it all and couldn't help but wonder how she had gotten herself into this mess after only being here a few short days. "Babe, Shane obviously likes you" I said trying to help her. She glanced down at her knees and smiled a little. "I doubt after the incident with Dean before that he likes me, he stormed off upstairs without saying anything, and the weird part was I felt like somehow I had betrayed him, I don't understand it we aren't dating, so why would I feel like this" Claire sighed sounding more confused and sad as she neared the end of her speech.

I felt sorry for her, she couldn't see what was staring her in the face she clearly had feelings for Shane, but it didn't look like she was going to admit that any time soon.

Michael's point of view 

I walked upstairs and tapped lightly on Shane's door, I heard a muffled come in. I opened the door to see Shane face down on the bed, looking quite pathetic. I couldn't help but laugh at the great Shane Collins being reduced to this by a girl. His head snapped up as he heard my laughter, he didn't look amused at all. "Dude, this isn't funny" he said before letting his head drop back down into his pillow again, I had to disagree but didn't say that out loud. "No of course it isn't" I said "I only came up here to tell you to man up, and if you like her tell her instead of being an idiot". Shane's head shot up and he glared at me. "It isn't that simple, she was playing tonsil tennis with that Dean kid about ten minutes ago and I will definitely not be making myself look like an even bigger idiot by trying to get a girl to like me that clearly likes somebody else" I rolled my eyes "your loss mate she seems like a pretty good girl" I said and walked out leaving him to his own depression.

As I was walking down the stairs, Eve began walking up them meeting me halfway. I laughed and she responded with a little chuckle of her own. We weren't together, we had tried before, but it hadn't worked out. She was still the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on, no matter how she dressed, what car she drove or what kind of music she listened to, I would always love her. She blushed and looked down, I realised I had been staring.

Eve's point of view

Michael was staring at me, his mouth slightly open and his eyes full of some emotion I couldn't quite decipher. He was stood on the stair above me, but with the added height from my heels I was at the perfect height for him to reach down and kiss me, and for a few breath-taking minutes I thought he would, but he just cleared him throat and brushed past me. Tears threatened to spill over; I shut my eyes and breathed through the pain of yet another rejection. I didn't know if I could take any more.

Claire's point of view 

I looked up curiously at the exchange between Eve and Michael, there were no words spoken but the unsaid words seemed to glisten between them. I thought they would kiss but Michael just carried on his way downstairs. Eve hung her head and a lone tear slid down her cheeks, she stood for a second before walking upstairs.

I glanced at Michael and followed him into the living room, where he sat and put his head in his hands. "You're in love with her aren't you" I said in a quiet voice. He just looked up at me and dropped his head back into his hands but not before I saw the glint of tears in his eyes. I walked towards him and sat down "tell her how you feel if the way she looks at you is any indication she loves you too" he lifted his head out of his hands and in a voice a little above a whisper asked "what do you mean, the way she looks at me?" he sounded totally lost. "She looks at you like you're the only person in the room and her eyes sparkle, I wish someone would look at me like that" I said a little smile on my face. "Your throwing away something special if you don't tell her how you feel" I said hoping that he would listen to what I was saying. He didn't confirm or deny any of what I had just said; he was saved by a knocking on the door. I opened it to find the hippie guy from the coffee shop and a dainty woman who looked important. I heard Michael hiss from behind me, and an overwhelming sense of curiosity hit me. "Who are you?" I said.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: sorry about the wait, my laptop had to be sent away and I literally just got it back. Hope you all enjoy

Chapter 8

Michael nudged me in the back after my rude outburst, I wasn't going to apologise. I heard doors open from upstairs and then two harsh intakes of breath before the thundering of feet down the stairs. My curiosity spiked once again. Who were these people and why was everyone getting in such a fuss over them?

Strong arms pulled me out of the door and into the protection of the hallway. Shane then stepped into the door in my place. Eve practically jumped on me and began asking me if I was ok.

I heard a chuckling from the door and a small voice that somehow still managed to hold a lot of power behind it "Calm down, we didn't come here to fight, we came to invite you to the annual founders ball, it is in the square tonight at midnight" the women said. "Amelia, you know we can't go there without protection, well get killed" Michael said trying hard to sound calm. "And that is why I have brought you these" the women said. I didn't really catch on at first. Killed? What would get us killed? What the hell were they talking about? My mind was so completely focused on trying to figure out if there were crazy, that I almost missed the bracelet being clamped around my wrist.

I looked down at it, it was plain with a simple emblem and no catch to take it off, I glanced up at the women the look of disdain clear on my face. She just laughed and walked back towards the car waiting on the road.

As soon as the door was shut behind them Eve screamed and started dancing like an idiot. "Please tell me you have something stunning to wear tonight" she said to me. I sighed, thinking about the only thing I hadn't brought into the house out of my car. I nodded reluctantly. She screamed again, and then looked at me, "well go and get it then" she said in an agitated voice.

I walked out to my car and grabbed the box from the front passenger seat. Eve stood at the front door waiting for me to come back inside. She started squealing and dragged me up the stairs. She demanded I showered. I did what I was told and by the time I had come back she had brought all her make-up and her curlers and straighteners into my room and several long dresses were scattered across my bed. The box that held my dress was on the floor in the corner.

Eve shoved me down into a chair and began blow drying my hair. As soon as she was finished we began chatting about nothing. "So … why the move to Morganville? Except for school, obviously" Eve asked now pulling the curling iron through my hair "Just didn't really want to be anywhere near my parents for the next few years" Eve chuckled "So no traumatic story about how a guy you secretly admired for your whole life doesn't return your feelings?" I laughed outright at that "Nope just annoying possessive parents"

Eve turned me and the chair around and began doing my make-up. "Shane is so into you" she said a light smile on her face as she flicked the foundation brush across my cheeks. "He is not" I said blushing hoping she wouldn't notice, which was very unlikely due to her peering at my face. She laughed and just shrugged "do you like him?" she asked. "Nope" I said hoping my insincerity wouldn't be evident in my voice, judging on the look on her face it was. She started on my eyes "what about you?" I asked "you and Michael seem pretty close, and he's definitely into you" I couldn't see the expression on her face because my eyes were closed as she brushed over my eyelids. "Yea, I mean we were together in high school but there were just too many complications" she said. I just smiled and pretended I believed the excuse. She squealed again and ran off into her room coming back a few minutes with a large mirror that she put in front of my face. My cheeks were lightly blushed with pink and my eyes were just dark enough to emphasize them. My lips were painted a very light red colour which made the cupid bows shape even more obvious. My hair was curled and teased into an elegant up do with little curls framing my face showing off my angular face.

It was my turn to squeal and I jumped up and hugged her. She laughed and said "you want to do my make-up?" I said yes and sat her down. I went with a tiny amount of foundation and a light pink blusher; I went with the smoky eye look, which really made her eyes pop. As I straightened her hair I realised something, I was happy and I felt at home. It felt as if I'd known her for years and I could tell her anything. Tears threatened to spill over my eyes, so I grabbed the mirror and showed Eve her make-up. She replayed a similar scene with the squealing and hugging and then we chose Eves dress.

The dress we finally chose was gothic but beautiful. It had a red bodice with a dropped waistline and full tulle skirt. We paired it with a pair of red stilettos with black ruffles down the front. She looked amazing and I couldn't wait until Michael saw her.

I walked to the corner and picked up the box and set it on the bed. I gently took of the lid and pulled away the tissue paper that covered the dress. I pulled it out and held it up, I heard Eve gasp. It was light blue in colour and had a tight bodice that was covered in small diamonds and a full puffy skirt that was covered sparsely in diamonds. I pulled it on and paired it with silver heels that were also dotted in diamonds.

Michael shouted that it was time to go and so we headed down the stairs. I heard both there harsh intakes of breath and me and Eve looked at each other and smiled. Michael and Shane were stood by the door both in classic black tuxedos but somehow Michael was wearing red to match Eve and Shane was wearing light blue to match my dress, his hair was still messy and ruffled as if he hadn't bothered running a comb through it and it was very sexy. I just grinned at him as he smirked up at me.

As we reached the bottom of the stairs they extended their arms out to us and helped us out of the door to where a black sleek limousine waited at the curb. Eve squealed yet again and Me, Michael and Shane all glanced at each other and laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I'm so sorry again, I was about to update on Sunday, I read through it and really wasn't happy, so I re-wrote it. It's still far from brilliant so don't get your hopes up, but I just didn't want to leave you waiting any longer. Thanks for reviewing

Claire point of view 

It was beautiful, like a scene from an 17th century romance novel. Women danced around in dazzling ball gowns of every colour, their hair in various different styles, but all of them looked stunning. Fairy lights gleamed and a band played slow music, to which couples danced to in the center of everything. They looked elegant and graceful, twirling and stepping with their equal as impressive partners.

Amelie was at a small podium at the far end of the ballroom looking even more gorgeous and deadly than before. She wore a simple dark blue ball gown that hugged her figure, she had paired this with black heels and a very intricate blue sapphire encrusted necklace. Her hair was piled on top of her head, showing of the harsh lines of her face. She saw us and nodded over, a small smile playing on her lips.

I turned around, almost immediately Shane took me by the elbow and nearly dragged me onto the dance floor. I begged him to stop, my clumsiness was almost equal to my cockiness and that was not a good thing. He just shook his head and proceeded to try and ruin my life- and my dress if worse came to worse and i face-planted in front of all these people. Thankfully we got to the dance floor accident free. He pulled me into his arms and began a slow sway as I looked over at Eve and silently begged her to come and save me.

He lifted my chin up to make me look him in the eyes. "Claire, I'm really sorry for the way I've been acting recently" I looked up at him and began to form a reply, when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to see Dean stood behind me glaring at Shane. I smiled at him and hugged him, as I pulled out of his embrace I pecked him lightly on the lips. I heard a growl like sound coming from where Shane stood "I'll just leave shall I?" Shane almost hissed. "Yes, if you don't mind mate" Dean said whilst dragging me into his arms and placing his hands at the small of my back, I glanced reluctantly at Shane before raising my arms to wrap them around Deans neck. Shane stalked off to talk to a blonde, why would he be talking to her? She began touching his arms and stroking his chest, stepping closer to him all the time. I couldn't help but keep glancing over as me and Dean danced.

She was beautiful, in a light pink dress, that was tight at the top and floated out. The top of the dress was shimmering with thousands of diamonds. The dress was so long you couldn't see her heels but I imagined that they were very beautiful and expensive too. She wore minimal make-up and had her hair down in what seemed to be natural waves that nearly reached her hips. She was stunning, and in that exact moment I knew that she would win Shane's heart and I would be worthless to him.

Dean pulled my chin up, in a similar way to Shane's movement before, and kissed me lightly on the lips before asking if I was okay. I nodded and smiled. "You look beautiful" he said, but somehow I doubted he really thought that. I just said thanks and continued to glance back and forth between Shane and the blonde and Dean. Dean had just opened his mouth to say something when Amelie stepped up to the podium and asked for everyone's attention. I felt Eve, Michael and Shane move to stand behind me.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to the annual founders ball" Amelie said, this was shortly followed by a round of applause. "But tonight, is not just about drinking champagne, dancing and laughing, its about establishing some ground rules" Silence echoed around the room, most people were glancing around them looking nervous and afraid, but a few were glancing knowingly at the their shoes, as if they had a part in this. Dean was one of those people.

"Most of you are humans, you are weak and need protection from those who wish to harm you. The people who are about to join me on the stage will grant you this protection" she said, I glanced down at the bracelet on my wrist. My head shot back up again as various people began to move up to the stage, coffee guy was up there, along with the blonde that Shane was talking to, and then Deans face appeared. The shock seemed like a slap to me. "You will be required to donate blood and people who do not do this will be prosecuted" she was looking directly at our group when she said that, Shane snorted knowingly. I turned and glared at him. "By the way, your all looking fabulous tonight" she said on a tinkle of laughter before descending the podium and vanishing from sight. I looked back up at Dean, he was looking very guilty, he saw me looking and stepped towards me, I shook my head and he stopped dead in his tracks. I turned around to face Eve, Michael and Shane. "Home" we all said at the same time and began to walk towards the doors. For a moment I thought about when it had become home to me, I couldn't decide but I knew that it had.

Before we had managed to make it safely to the doors, the blonde stepped in our way. She grabbed the front of Shane's shirt and dragged him down, kissing him on the mouth making sure she did it in full view of me. An emotion spread through me, i wasn't sure what it was but I wanted to kill the blonde bitch. She smirked at me before sauntering off in the opposite direction.

Shane's Point of View

She kissed me and I didn't like just her lips against mine, so when she shoved her tongue in, I nearly gagged. She smirked and walked away. I glanced over at Claire who had an undistinguishable look on her face, before shaking my head and carrying on towards the limo that was waiting outside for us. When we got home, the girls rushed off up-stairs to put on something more comfortable, in similar fashion I pulled off my tie and undid the first few buttons on my shirt before collapsing on to the sofa.

Michael came over and sat down beside me "Some kiss man" he said a small smile on his face. "It was kind of gross" I replied laughing. "God, she looked beautiful tonight" Michael sighed a wistful look on his face. "Claire? I know she did" I said hoping that I didn't sound as big an idiot as I felt like. "I meant Eve" Michael said "You've got it bad" he said laughing. "And you don't?" I replied. We both laughed at that.

I heard them coming down the stairs, they came through the door and my breath caught in my throat. Claire was wearing a short tank top that showed off her pierced belly button, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed that before it was sexy as hell, and shorts that might as well have been her underwear. Eve was close behind her in a practically see-through baby doll that was just creepy, she was like my sister. I looked at Michael and lets just say that he wasn't looking at Eve the way a brother would look at a sister, and I found it unbelievable how Eve couldn't see the naked longing on his face. "Pizza and a movie?" Claire asked, I nodded mutely, she and Eve curled up on the floor at our feet and put in a chick flick, we sat and eat pizza and talked, and I felt happier than I'd ever felt in my life. I felt like I was home again.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N:  So again, a massive thank-you to anyone who reviewed and again I'm really disappointed with this chapter even though it is a little bit longer than the others, and I know the endings similar to another chapter, but I need the clubbing chapter to do something so …. Sorry.

Chapter 10

Shane's point of view 

I woke to the sound of light snoring. I opened my eyes to see Michael snoring in his chair of choice, with Eve at his feet curled up with her head resting gently on Michael's knee. I smiled lightly knowing that they were meant for each other.

Someone moved against my side and I glanced down to see Claire cuddled beside me on the sofa, her face upturned towards mine. She was beautiful, she was so beautiful it felt like my breath caught in my throat and words became distant and unreachable. Her eyelashes fluttered, and for a moment I thought she would wake up, but then she made this small noise in the back of her throat and snuggled closer to me. My breath hissed out of my mouth and my heart beat faster.

I gently climbed over her and off the sofa, her neck looked to be in a very uncomfortable position I searched the room for a pillow, but it seemed like Eve was sat on pretty much every single one in the room.

I gently picked her up bridal style, at this her eyes did open gently, and she smiled and rested her head against my chest. I carried her up the stairs. All the way up my heart beat at an ecstatic pace, my breath couldn't seem to escape my throat.

As we reached her room I tried to open the door, it was tricky but I managed it. I felt the air on my chest as she laughed. I gently laid her on the bed. I turned to leave but she caught my hand and tugged me back "stay with me" she whispered without opening her eyes. I didn't respond, I just lay beside her, after a few minutes her breathing settled and I knew she had fell back to sleep. I couldn't manage to close my eyes with her lying next to me, so I just watched her sleep.

After an hour she turned towards me and threw her arm over me, with the contact I closed my eyes and the world fell away.

Claire's point of view 

I woke to find a hard chest beneath my head and strong muscled arms wrapped around my small waist. I looked like a fragile doll wrapped up in his embrace. I smiled, for some reason, this felt right. He looked much gentler asleep; his long lashes a crescent resting on his face. His lips were full and there was a strange tugging feeling propelled me to reach up and press my own lips to his. His eyes opened as if he was startled. However he recovered quickly and began kissing me back. His hands came up to face and one settled on the nape of my neck. I gently pulled away, our lips still centimetres away. In that moment we were sharing the same breath, and a voice in the back of my head said the same heart, but I refused to listen unwilling to admit what my heart already knew was the truth.

"I have to go school" I whispered before pulling away completely and walking to the bathroom to shower. By the time I had come back Shane was gone. I curled my hair and put in into a ponytail, with some loose strands framing my face and decided to skip all make-up except mascara. I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a draped blush pink vest top and a black blazer. I paired it with black below knee boots that had a ruched effect and red bottoms. They had cost a fortune but they were well worth it.

I went downstairs and straight into the kitchen. Eve was stood there wearing one if the strangest outfit. It was a red leather jacket with a skull in the middle that was currently in half as her jacket wasn't zipped up. The top was black and cropped with a zip running down the middle, her mid-drift was on show but covered in a black see through lace. She had put this with black shorts and hold-up tights that stopped just below the shorts and above knee high patent leather boots.

Even though she wore this outfit, the most striking thing about her was the tears. She seemed so strong and untouchable. I cautiously walked over to her, hoping I was being quiet when in reality the heels on my boots made a loud sound on the tiles of the kitchen.

She looked up and I ran the rest of the way to wrap my arms around her, she clung on until I almost couldn't breathe. "Eve, honey what's wrong?" I said in the most soothing tone I could muster up. She just sobbed against my shoulder, I left the questions until she could answer them and instead murmured what I hoped were kind, calming words to her. She finally stopped crying enough to say one single word "Michael". I sighed and asked her what he had done. "Well I had obviously fell asleep with my head resting against his knee and when I woke up his hand was stroking my hair, it felt good Claire really good, like we had a chance" At this she broke off into shaking sobs again. "But sweetie isn't that a good thing" Eve just nodded and between sobs said "What he did after that wasn't, I stood up and he did too, I thought that maybe he wanted me back, but when I tried to kiss him, he just pushed me away, and went and shut himself in his bedroom". The heart wrenching sobs took over again. Again all I could do was hold her and whisper to her.

"Eve, the way he looks at you is beautiful and it's full of love and longing, I know that he wants you back maybe he's just scared" she didn't respond, and I had no idea what to say anymore. I reluctantly pulled away "I've got to go to school now, but on my way home ill buy extra ice-cream and we'll have a girls night ok?" she nodded. I walked towards the door and grabbed my keys and bag "By the way" I said as I turned around to face Eve "Guys want what they can't have" I winked at her.

Michael's point of view

I couldn't believe what I had just done. I didn't even know why I had done it. I wanted to kiss her and when the opportunity had come up, I had pushed her away like an idiot, like I had back in high school. I remembered the way we were. We were happy and together.

_Flashback_

"_Hey sexy" Eve said as she walked towards me. She looked good natural without the pale make-up and the dark eye shadow. She looked like an average teenage girl in blue jeans with a pair of converses, a vest top and a leather jacket. But to me she would never be average; it seemed like every room she walked into instantly got brighter because of her presence. _

_She reached me and leant up to kiss me, I responded and kissed her back gripping her waist to bring her closer to me. We were a couple and even living together in the Glass House, and she was everything to me. Then Monica walked past and said "Get a room" Eve pulled away at that remark ready to say something back but Monica cut her off "But wait me and Michael already did that, right sweetie" she said looking directly at me with a sickeningly sweet look on her face. I stammered really not knowing how to reply. Eve made a noise that sounded like the beginnings of a retort, but when she glanced up at my face all words were cut off. "Oh my god" she whispered tears streamed down her cheeks even though she made no noise expect those three words that tore my heart into pieces. "Eve, it was last year we weren't even together then please don't be mad at me" I said desperately trying to make her realise that it was just another of Monica's games. "Oh I'm not mad, but I am leaving, please don't talk to me for a while" she said in a quiet withdrawn voice before walking away and leaving me there alone. _

_End of flashback _

That was the day my whole world crumbled into tiny pieces. She didn't move out that day. Shane had run home after hearing about it and convinced her to stay, but it had taken months to even get her to look at me. Soon after that day she had begun to dress in black and favoured her current choice of make-up. 

I wanted to be with her again more than I could say, but how could she trust me again, and how could I look and her and not see the Eve that used to be with me, the one that had worn little or no make-up and whose favourite colour had been pink. How could she forget that I slept with the person that had killed Shanes little sister?

Eve's point of view

Michael had pushed me away. He didn't want me. I though back to what Claire had said "Guys want what they can't have" I heard him in the kitchen, it had to be Michael. Shane was at work and Claire was at school. After Claire had left I had changed into a purple lacy slip with matching thong. The slip was totally see through, I smiled before I stood up and walked downstairs and into the kitchen. He saw me and stared, his eyes startled and wide, I sent him a friendly smile and bent down to grab a coke, and heard his breath hiss out slightly. I stood up and smiled at him again and walked back upstairs knowing that he was watching me the whole time.

Claire's point of view 

I was driving home after picking up the ice cream I had promised for Eve. Thankfully I didn't see Dean today, but I was driving towards Shane and I wasn't sure which was worse. I pulled up in front of the house, grabbed my stuff and walked inside. Eve was there, wearing next to nothing. I covered my eyes and walked towards the kitchen from memory. She followed me, waited until I had put my things on the table and grabbed my arm. "We are going out tonight" she squealed. I just blinked uncomprehending. "Well don't just stand there, we need to get ready" she said looking a little confused herself. "Where exactly are we going" I asked her, actually quite scared of the answer. "Clubbing" she said as if she thought I was dumb. "Yay?" I said purposely making it sound like a question because to be truthful I really wasn't sure whether to be afraid or excited. She squealed again, dragging me off upstairs.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hey , so I'm really sorry about the time it took to update and the standard of this chapter but I've been ill and I have exams this week and next so this is the best I could with the hour I had spare. Thanks for reviewing, if you have any ideas or suggestions please PM me I would love to hear them.

Chapter 11 

Claire's point of view 

Two hours later Eve declared us ready to leave. By this time, Shane and Michael had found out about us going out and had decided to tag along. Eve had taken this in her stride surprisingly well. She had tried on everything she owned and had finally settled on a tight black bodycon dress with lace sleeves and leather straps that criss-crossed near her neck, after a 10 minute debate with herself she decided to wear black heels, with straps that criss-crossed her feet. Her hair was down and she had done her make-up more natural than usual, she looked more beautiful that I had ever seen her, and I knew that she was doing it for Michael.

I had been styled by Eve in black hot pants, a red and white striped vest top. She had threw a pair of wedges at me which I obediently slipped on my feet, after looking at me for a few minutes she turned and came back with a pair of black sheer suspender tights which I wore under my shorts. My hair was curled and my eyes dramatically lined in black, my lips a blood red.

We walked downstairs and in a similar way to before the ball Shane and Michael were waiting by the door. They were both in the typical jeans and shirt combo that most lads wore to go out in, but they both looked hot.

We went to the only club that Morganville offered the "Bite Club". It seemed a strange name but as long as there was a dance floor and some alcohol I wasn't really bothered. As soon as we walked through the doors me and Eve looked at each other and bounced off to the dance floor. We swung each other around and even did some bumping and grinding together. By the time we went to get a drink we were sweaty, clammy and already felt halfway drunk even though not a single drop had passed our lips.

I saw Shane and Michael waiting in one of the booths that surrounded the dance floor, I walked over dragging a resisting Eve behind me. We reached the table and slumped down onto it. There were two drinks waiting for us and without hesitation we downed them. I followed my drink with Shanes shot that was sat untouched in front of him on the table. He glared at me and I was about to respond to the look when a feminine, screechy voice shouted "Shane, hey baby"

It was the blonde from the ball, the one with the stunning wavy hair that reached her waist. Tonight it was curled, similar to mine. She looked amazing in her one shouldered red dress, and tan heels. She sauntered over and sat on Shane's knee which had to be hard to do considering that it was a booth and the table was barely knee high. She turned her face towards his and gently kissed him on the lips. The kiss said everything I needed to know, it was sweet and not at all the kiss of a drunken women on a night out. The intimacy in that moment told me that there was more between them than what had just happened. I closed my eyes as the familiar sting of tears welled up, I managed to get control before they slipped over, but when I opened my eyes and saw Shane looked at me with what could only be described as a sorry expression on his face I had to leave.

I climbed out of the booth and made my way back over to the dance floor, that tell-tale lump in the back of my throat aching nearly as much as my heart. I grabbed the first single man I could find and dragged him up to dance, it felt good for a while to lose myself and my inhibitions in a continuous stream of men who were more than happy to dance with me, but the moment I stopped for just long enough to grab another tray of shots I saw them; Shane, Eve and Michael all sat in the same booth. All unsmiling and sullen, none of them tried to make conversation and in that moment I realised that it was meant to be mine and Eve's night, a girl's night out we said, and so I went back grabbed her and dragged her back to dance the night away.

Shane's point of view 

I couldn't believe we had even bothered coming here tonight. I knew it would end up in disaster, at least for me. Katy had just walked up, sat down (on me) and kissed me, right in front of Claire. I thought that I was a hurt look in her eyes, but that soon disappeared, I wasn't even sure that it was there in the first place. She danced with about twenty different guys and then came and dragged Eve away to dance some more.

I escaped from my own worries and glanced at Michael who hadn't said a word all night, he was staring into the distance. I turned around to see what he was looking at and saw a sweaty Eve and Claire grinding somewhat erotically against each other.

"What happened now mate?" I asked with a small sigh. He relayed the whole story to me, the kiss, the rejection, the underwear incident. I laughed at the last one and the agonised look on his face. I could only think of one thing to say and decided that I might as well just say it "You still love her, I see the way you look at her, and the way she looks at you is exactly the same, you're both in love with each other and she finally decides to wear her big girl trousers and show you how she feels and you push her away, I really don't understand. But one thing I do understand is that you have to show her how you feel and soon otherwise she'll go elsewhere" The look on Michaels face was serious and he looked over at the girls again and said in a quiet voice "I would say the same to you". I turned around to see what he meant and saw Claire in Dean's arms. She looked angry, but as he lowered his head to kiss her she didn't stop him. I knew what that meant; I just drank the rest of my beer and lowered by head. Michael sent a pitiful glance my way,

He got up, and walked over to Eve and carefully but confidently pulled her into his arms, I wished with all my heart that I could just muster up the courage to walk over to Claire and do the same, instead I searched the dance floor for the familiar crop of blond hair. When I finally spotted her she was dancing alone with her hands in the air swaying her hips to the beat of the music, and I decided that I might as well have a good time with someone who wanted me back.

Michael's point of view 

She felt right in my arms, like she fit. I looked down at her face, her eyes were closed as she swayed to the music, she acted like she didn't care about my arms around her waist, but I knew she was just as aware of our closeness as I was. She didn't have any make-up on and she reminded me of the old Eve, and that almost shattered my heart. I brought my hand up to the nape of her neck and gently tugged her face towards mine. Her eyes flew open, and I smiled down at her as I lowered my head to her lips. "I still want you" I whispered before I kissed her. Everything around us melted into non-existence as our lips and tongues danced together in a dance older that time its self, but the love that surrounded us was the thing that made the kiss beautiful. She moaned deep in her throat and I pulled away. "I want you more than anything" I said again, hoping that she understood exactly what I meant. Her face lit up, and with that so did my heart.


	12. Chapter 12

Claire's point of view 

I dragged myself away from Dean, and although I hadn't stopped him kissing me in the first place, I felt as though i was doing something wrong. I felt him looking at me and when I looked up I only saw desire in his gaze. In that moment, a clarity hit me, he didn't want me he wanted my body. He didn't want to hold me or love me or be the person I so desperately needed. He wasn't going to pull me into his arms and tell me everything was okay, even when we both knew it wasn't. He wasn't going to love me.

But in that moment I realised something else I wasn't a princess who needed to be rescued from her tower, and I didn't need a prince who was going to slay the evil dragon who kept me imprisoned, because in a way I knew I was the person who imprisoned myself by not following my heart, or my desires.

I looked up into Deans eyes once again, and realised that he wasn't what I wanted or needed. "Dean" I said "Look we have had a good time together and I really thought that maybe I could become the person that you needed me to be for you, but in my heart, and I'm sure you feel it to, I feel as though we are two people who just wanted to belong to something, or someone, and we fell into each other. I just don't think we are meant to be together anymore Dean, that's if we were ever really together in the first place"

He glanced down as if hurt, even though I knew that I could have just said you're dumped and he probably would have walked away whistling the tune to what a wonderful world without a glance back. I knew that he deserved more than that from me.

After a while he glanced up and nodded, he bent down and whispered "I still think we could have been so much more Claire" after that he walked away, his hands in his pockets and a nonchalant look on his face.

I let out a breath and glanced around searching for a familiar face. I found two at the same time. Michael and Eve were wrapped up in each other's arms, both had small smiles on their faces and they both looked happy. I guessed that was what everyone wanted to be happy; I know I just wanted to be happy. I began searching again and found the face I was looking for, not in the booth were I last saw him, but in the arms of the leggy blonde who had so gratefully planted one on him before.

With that sight every other thought in the world faded away into the black hole that sucked away any happiness that I might have had. I felt like an empty shell with no meaning in the world.

I walked over to the bar and slapped some money on the surface demanding a row of shots. A few trays later and I had developed quite a crowd, beside me stood a boy with dark eyes and hair wearing a emerald coloured shirt, jeans and hi-tops. I sent him a small flirty smile and held my hand out to him. He grabbed it and instead of pulling me out to the dance floor like I thought he would, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. His mouth moved against mine and mine responded in a similar fashion.

By the time he pulled away the crowd around us was cheering and I was breathing hard. He raised his eyebrows in a questioning glance. I knew exactly what he wanted and I wanted it too. I took a second to think about what I was going to say and came to the same conclusion as before, I wasn't Cinderella and I didn't need a glass carriage, I could do exactly what I wanted, and if Shane didn't want me, I sure as hell didn't want him. I nodded. We walked out to his car, but instead decided to walk due to the amount we had both drunk.

By the time we reached the front door to the glass house we were frantically pulling at each other's clothing, both of us fighting for dominance. But despite the desire I felt was I doing this for me, or to show something to Shane?

Shane's point of view

I danced with Katy and tried to pretend that I wanted to be there, but in truth i didn't. I didn't just want to be a one night stand. I wanted a girl who I could trust, a girl who I could hold and tell her everything was going to be okay. I wanted a girl who I could love, a girl who would love me back.

I pulled myself away from Katy and simply walked away, I didn't look back but I also didn't imagine that she would care. She would probably just grab another guy and start dancing again, and i would be another vague memory of yet another drunken night.

On my way to the door I saw Eve and Michael all wrapped up in each other and I don't just mean in each other's arms I mean in each other souls, hearts, minds and bodies. They looked so in love that it was hard to ignore that spark of jealousy that turned into a raging flame once Michael kissed Eve and the love between them could be noticed by everyone around them and clearly was by the looks on the people's faces that surrounded them. The looks ranged from jealousy to happiness to wistfulness to loneliness. Some just looked platonic as if the rest of the world no longer mattered to them and it dawned on me that I had been that way for a long time, and only recently had I begun to acknowledge that the rest of the world was instrumental in the way I was, in the person I had become.

I would trade my soul for an inch of the happiness that they were clearly feeling right now, but I would give everything to feel the kind of love they had. The kind of love that was warm and whole, that couldn't be described by simple words or even complex sentences, yet one look, could perfectly describe it.

I made a decision, whether I realised that I was making it or not was irrelevant, I knew exactly what I wanted. I walked out and ran back to the glass house to wait for Claire to come home. As I ran up the street towards the house, I saw two people in the doorway. I got closer and recognised Claire and a boy I used to go to school with, his name was Ashley.

I saw what they were doing and my hear hit the floor, until I saw Claire's face. Ashley was kissing her neck but she was clawing at him, tears were running down her face and I heard her gravely shouting no and her fear echoed within those words. I felt that fear deep within my soul, and as i apprehended that fear I ran up to the door and grabbed the back of Ashley's shirt flung him off Claire and punched him in the jaw, I followed this with a punch to the nose and blood spurted. He screamed and I was glad that he had the experience of feeling pain and fear. I shoved him to the floor and he lay there holding his nose and shaking before dragging himself up and running away.

I looked at Claire where she had slumped against the closed door, pulled her knees up to her chest and was sobbing profusely. I almost cried for her. I opened the door quickly feeling extremely guilty about leaving her on the floor. I gently picked her up and carried her through the door; this seemed to be becoming a reoccurring pattern. I tried to take her to her room but she furiously shook her head, so instead I took her in to my room where she made me turn around before pulling of her ripped shirt and shorts and putting on one of my t-shirts that I had left lying on the floor. She curled up into a ball on my bed, and tried to make herself as small as possible. She looked broken and that hurt me more than any words, or any physical injury ever could.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Eve's point of view

I walked through the door to the home I had lived in for so many years with a new feeling inside my chest. I had felt it before, but never this strong, this consuming. It filled me until it was all I was and everything I was. I was happy, but more importantly I was in love, and the man I was in love with loved me back. His arms wrapped around my waist from behind and he kissed me on the neck, and the love within that simple expression of his feelings was enough to make me feel like I was young again, to make me feel that safe, content feeling, much like when you're young and your wrapped in the arms of a loving parent.

We walked through to the living room rather awkwardly considering that his arms were still wrapped around my waist. In the living room sat Shane and guiltiness struck me like a slap to the face, while me and Michael had been out dancing and enjoying ourselves and finally feeling as though we could make a relationship between the two of us work, Shane had been sat on the sofa alone crying silent tears. My bubble of happiness burst and that feeling that everything would be okay disappeared because I had never seen Shane cry and the day that someone had broken him down into tears was the day that something had gone very wrong.

I took a step forward and Michael's arms dropped from around my waist. We both walked over and dropped down beside him, I put what I hoped was a reassuring arm around his shoulders, and we waited together until the tears dried on his cheeks, and the rawness in his throat had dissipated. Yet still we sat there unsure of who should say the first words and what those first words should be.

"It's Claire" Shane said, the hoarseness in his voice made those words sound even more dramatic and thought provoking than they should have been. A million possibilities ran through my mind, a million terrible things that could have happened, and so on one desperate breath of hope I gently said "Shane, we know that you like her, and we get how horrible it feels to have someone not like you back, but sweetheart you have to either tell her how you feel or move on because in some ways all girls are a little self-conscious sometimes and very girl needs to be told how much you love her"

But all the way through my small speech he shook his head and I knew something far worse was about to come "No, it's not that in fact it has nothing to do with that at all" Shane said, his voice stronger and more commanding "I came home before and her and this boy who I used to know from high school called Ashley were on the front steps together. At first I thought they were just making out but as I got closer I heard Claire shouting no and he wasn't stopping so I ran to the front door and punched him around a little, and I had to carry Claire inside. She looked so broken and so un-like herself that it just hurt, it physically hurt me"

"Oh god" I whispered on a breath of exhaled air "It didn't go too far did it?"

"No thank god, all clothing was still on" Shane said with a horror stricken look on his face, almost as if he hadn't considered that it could have gone too far, that Claire could have been hurt in a much more serious way.

"I'm going to go upstairs and sit with her for a while, make sure she's okay" I said, sending a nod over to Michael to tell him to stay downstairs with Shane. He nodded back, and with that confirmation I hesitantly began to make my way up the stairs.

When I reached the top I knocked on the door before opening it. I heard no response and I definitely was not going to wait all night for one, so I opened the door and went inside. I told myself I was going to be stern and strict, but when I saw her curled in a ball, her eyes staring blankly at the wall in front of her I blanched and just sighed. I went and laid beside her, she put her head on my stomach and whispered "Thank you, I don't want to be alone"

My heart was breaking for her, so when I couldn't think of something to say in return, I decided to say nothing at all. Hours later when the room began to get light my drowsiness took over and my eyes slipped shut to the sound of Claire's steady breathing.

Claire's point of view 

I woke up slowly as if my head was underwater and I was dragging myself back up to get that breath of air to fill my lungs and restore my will to keep living. As my vision became clearer, so did my memories from the night before, but as my eyes filled with self- pitying tears I realised that last night I had not lost something, I had not lost my belief in myself. I had in fact gained something, the knowledge that I had great friends who would protect me, friends who would stay up all night just to make sure that I was okay.

I wouldn't cry about it, for my friends I would stay strong and prove that what I had been through hadn't changed me. Like they always say: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I wasn't the type of girl to wallow in things that never actually harmed you. I was the type of girl to come back fighting, if I had to I would claw my way back.

With that resolution concreted firmly inside my heart and head I got up and walked to the bathroom. I took a shower and brushed my teeth. I put on the sexiest underwear I could find, just to prove to myself that I could still wear something that made me feel sexy without fearing that someone would attack me for it. I debated on what to wear, considering that I had school today and in the end decided on grey skin tight jeans with a low cut black vest top, paired with a black and navy blue striped cardigan, oversized bag and a pair of black peep toe heels with a bow on the front.

I went heavier than usual on the make-up in a poor effort to cover up a small bruise on my cheek. I looked in the mirror and decided to leave my hair in its natural waves. I went down the stairs and picked up my keys of the table, I stared down at them in my hand and just thought for a moment or two before slamming them down again, grabbing my books and walking out of the front door.

I walked to school, and everything was fine until I saw that same boy who hurt me waiting at the gates, and I realised that the real test of my strength had just looked me right in the eye.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: As always thanks to anyone who reviewed. This chapter might not be what you were hoping for and I apologise for the appalling quality but I've been with my family for Easter and this is really all I can manage at the moment. Please review and tell me what you think

Chapter 14

Claire's point of view

As i walked towards him i didn't feel anything that was at all expected. I didn't feel fear or even trepidation. I wasn't wary or even cautious. It was as if he wasn't even there. I held my head up high and walked past him. I wasn't sure whether i should nod or smile or say hey, so i said nothing. I just glanced at him as i walked past.

He looked angry, in his eyes you could almost see the fury just simmering beneath the surface. That single glance in his direction seemed to cause his contained anger to boil and spill over. He grabbed the back of my cardigan. I spun around "what the hell are you doing?" i spat at him. "How dare you ignore me" he yelled at me "Your nothing. You stick your little chin up in the air and look down at everyone, but it's really you who's nothing." I was shocked at the hatred in his voice, it shook me and i began to feel nervous. "Look I'm sorry about the other night. It just went too far and i wasn't comfortable. As for the other things you've only met me once you have no right to judge me or say those things about me" i said to him trying to keep my temper in check.

He grabbed my hair and dragged me down so that my back was bent and i was purely relying on him to keep me upright. "You might not have noticed me, but i noticed you, and soon enough you will remember me. I will always be a part of you" he said. He looked close to tears. This just made me angrier. I was the one hanging from my hair yet he was the one near tears. I spat at him and it hit right between the eyes. I started giggling hysterically and unstoppably. He let go of the chunk of hair he was gripping and i fell to the floor. My heel broke as i went down. I swore those shoes had cost me the better part of my old car. I sat up on the floor, I made no attempt to get up. I would show him that i wasn't scared.

Like a dog showing his dominance he stared down at me. When i looked back undeterred he began to glance around nervously. He got his phone out of the back pocket of his pants. I pulled myself up of the floor as he spoke to someone called Donny. I brushed of the back of my jeans and picked up my bag of the floor. I was about to walk the short distance to the doors of the school when he noticed my retreat. "Where do you think you're going?" he shouted. His voice held a trace of fear. "School" i yelled back taking a shaky step back on my uneven heels. I turned around to face the school rather than him. I felt his grip on my elbow, i spun around. A fist flew at my face. I barely had time to react before i was on the floor again dazed and reeling. A car pulled up to the pavement and a big tattooed man stepped out. "She's still conscious you fucking idiot!" I was about to respond with another one of my witty comments when for the second time in less than ten hours a fist flew at my face. My witty comments didn't seem to be entertaining these people. That was my last coherent thought before darkness enveloped me.

I woke up to the smell of damp. As my vision cleared enough to make out the room around me I almost laughed at the cliché. It was a basement. The walls were covered in moss and mould and rat dropping were scattered across the floor where a stack of boxes were leaning against the floor. A single bare light bulb hung from a frayed wire on the ceiling. There was a door at the top of a set of stairs, the stairs seemed impossibly far way and I knew that the door would be locked.

I was tied to a metal chair. Strong rope was securing my arms to the arms of the chair. I pulled at my legs but they also were bound to the chair. Duct tape was covering my mouth. I figured that this meant one of two possibilities, they either wanted me to be quiet for no reason other than their own fondness of silence, or that we were in an actual house where, if I shouted loud enough I could be heard. I desperately hoped for the latter but I doubted that even these pricks were stupid enough to put me in a poor old women's basement.

I began to panic. I pulled my arms up, but I succeeded nothing. My legs began to kick if their own accord and hysteria was beginning to cluster into my once unclouded mind. When I realised that I was achieving nothing I stopped and the only thing I had to show from my effort was a numb ache in my legs and arms. Tears tracked down my face that was still tender from Donny's fist.

I did another sweep of the room with my eyes. There was no way out other than the door at the top of the stairs, the door which had just begun to creak open.

Shane's point of view 

I had been sat on the stairs waiting for Claire to come home for almost two hours. I was beginning to panic. It was irrational but I had this strange unsettled feeling in my stomach – and my heart – that told me that something was very wrong.

I shouted through to Michael and Eve to ask them if they had heard anything from her. "Shane, you have to stop worrying she might be with a friend or that guy she was seeing. She's fine" Eve said as she walked to the base of the stairs to look at me with a pitying look on her face. I hated that look because I knew that something wasn't right. I knew it. I had known it the day that Alyssa had died and I knew it know. I felt so out of control, not that anybody could control Claire I thought with a smile.

Michael joined Eve at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at me; it was almost an assessing gaze. "You've got that feeling again haven't you" he said. He sounded weary as if he was certain that if I felt it, it must be true. I liked that he had that confidence in me but that didn't stop me standing up and beginning to pace. "Claire finished school three hours ago" I said. Eve just shrugged noncommittally but Michael looked as if he was following what I was saying. "She has six lessons a day and that means a lot of books" Michael said. I nodded and something inside twisted into a knot at the thought that Claire could be hurt. Eve just glanced between us as if we were crazy "and this all means what exactly? That Claire's too smart for her own good, because we all knew that already" she snarled annoyed that she hadn't caught up yet. "Her car keys are on the table" I said "She's would be carrying about nine or ten books, and knowing her sense of style she's probably wearing heels"

"So she would probably have come home to drop of her books before going out" Eve said as the light went on her eyes. "But that's still not really a valid reason for worrying" Michael said "she could have left her books in a friend's car or at a friend's house. The fact that she hasn't been home yet doesn't mean she lying in a ditch somewhere." I think that was meant to be soothing, but all it did was put the image of her bleeding in a ditch into my head. I closed my eyes and went to my room desperately trying to dispel that image from my mind.

Claire's point of view

I watched the door open. I was scared now. Donny walked through he looked menacing with all the tattoos covering his bald head. His eyes held emotions I couldn't recognise. They say that eyes are the windows to people's souls, if that was true then his soul was dark and disturbed and so confusing it was hard to look at.

He smiled at me, revealing a set of yellow and brown teeth that were revolting. He began to make his way down the stairs and with each step my fear increased. I wasn't afraid of pain or even death, but I was scared of being trapped and unable to defend myself. I knew that he would be able to see the tear tracks on my face and I knew that would be a sign of weakness to a man such as him. I held my head up just as I had before when I walked past Ashley. I hadn't stopped me from being beaten and kidnapped but it had helped with the blow to my pride.

Donny was stood in front of me now. I took a chance that I knew would not help me. I looked up into his eyes and played the dominance game with him. He snarled and backhanded me. My head flew sideways but a nervous laugh bubbled up in me. I looked up at him again making direct eye contact to anger him further. He kicked the chair legs out from me, the chair along with me toppled down onto the hard concrete floor. I acknowledged the crack as my head bounced off the floor and heard Donny's laughter before darkness took me once again.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I've had a crap week. This equals crap chapter. Big thanks to _cloclomockingjay _for reviewing and making my week a little better. By the way I was thinking about writing a Vampire Academy fanfic would anyone be interested?

Chapter 15

Shane's point of view

I paced back and forth. After an hour I couldn't take the dark feeling in the pit of my stomach any more. I grabbed my jacket and walked out of the door, at a second thought I grabbed Claire's keys off the table and took her car. I sat behind the wheel and took a deep breath. I didn't know what I was going to do, where I was going to go. Everything had faded away except that feeling and a sense of panic and danger.

The door next to me opened and Eve climbed in. Every day that she spent in Michael's company was gradually turning her back into the girl she once was. She wore less eyeliner and the flush across her cheeks was due to the cold rather than several layers of blusher. She smiled more and her clothes were more suited to a teenager instead of the widower attending a funeral look. This was a drastic change considering they had been together for less than a whole day. But it was a good change.

She turned to look at me "We going then Collins?" I guess the sarcasm was still there. Another door opened and Michael climbed behind Eve's chair into the back. He looked awkward with his legs all cramped in the back of Claire's small Mini. "Not without me, I hope" Michael said, sending a small glare towards Eve. Whether it was for taking the front seat or for considering leaving without him, I didn't know and I didn't care. I was quite endeared that they would come with me. "Where to?" I asked. "You mean were all sat in the car and you don't even have a plan. You're slipping Collins" That was Eve. I sent her a look and shrugged. She snorted and turned to look at Michael, as if he held all the answers.

Michael's eyes widened when he saw us looking to him for directions. He sighed melodramatically "Ok, so where was she going when she supposedly disappeared?" They all thought about it for a minute. Eve and Michael both suggested several things such as going to Common Ground and going to the library. I then spoke "School". A resounding "Ah" filled the car. I laughed at the fact that due to tension the most obvious answer had taken the longest to procure.

I started the car and began the drive to the long road that led up the school. I slowed as we made his way up it. We all searched the road with eager eyes determined to pick out the smallest piece of evidence. At the gates to the school I stopped the car and we all clambered out. Michael was panting by the time he squeezed himself out. I watched as Eve began to walk down the road a few paces and Michael began to look into the gates. I just stood there. I didn't know where or whether to search. It all felt so distant and pointless.

Eve gasped and all of our eyes turned to her. She held up a black pointy object. Michael and I looked at each other in bewilderment. Eve rolled her eyes "It's the heel of the shoes she was wearing this morning" She said this as if it was the simplest thing in the world to pick up one. It was our turn to roll out eyes. How girls remembered which shoes they were wearing in the morning I will never know.

"So she was definitely here then" Michael stated.

"At least it's a start" Eve offered.

"That's useful and all, but how do we even know where they went after that?" I asked.

Eve and Michael shared a look that spoke a thousand words.

Claire's point of view 

I floated back to consciousness on a wave of pain. My face stung and my ankle had begun to throb from the fall back at the school. The first thing I noticed was the surface beneath me. It was no longer the hard wood of the chair or the impenetrable concrete of the floor of the basement. It was soft and fluffy and in my delirious state I thought it felt like clouds or candyfloss. My arms were above my head and in an attempt to move to a more comfortable position I tried to move them to my sides. Chains rattled and the realisation that I was still imprisoned hit home.

I opened my gritty eyes and blinked away the remains of unconsciousness. I was lying on a four canopy bed covered by a cream duvet. Black curtains hung from the wooden top of the bed. The contrast was stark and it struck up a strange sense of fear within me. The curtains were open at one side so I could see the room beyond. It was elaborate with its dome shaped ceiling, large dressing table including a gold mirror. The walls however were run down and the gold paint that had once coated them was now little but a few chips here and there.

The door opened. From my spot on the bed I couldn't see who was coming through it. I heard the sound of heavy footsteps and the groan of the floorboards as they approached. I wasn't scared but I still made an attempt to sit up. In doing so I discovered that my feet were chained the bottom of the bed. He appeared around the open curtain. He was weird and something about him screamed evil. "Hello Claire" he said. Yupp, he was evil. He stood tall and straight. "What do you want?" I spat back at him. I wasn't feeling very argumentative considering that I was tied to a bed with my arms above my head and my legs going numb. He laughed, I groaned inwardly at the evil laugh imitation he attempted. "Well let's see, you're very valuable in this little situation Claire" he looked almost as if he was pondering his own choice of words even as he said them. "Why's this then?" I asked.

"Well it is a long story, but as you're unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon, I'm sure we have time for it."

"Shoot"

He coughed, I presumed for drama rather than an actual need to clear his throat. "I travelled to Africa. It was a hard journey and an even harder visit. I had just been exiled from my town-this town-by my own daughter of all people. There were many sick people on the boat I chose to use as transport and this of course meant less food. The gnawing hunger made me do some things that I regretted, as I ended up chained to the wall for my actions. Gosh, they don't chain you humans up to the wall for eating a cow do they?" he sounded indignant and I was becoming bored and confused with his tale, but he continued just as I thought he would.

"Anyway when I reached Africa I managed to free myself by using the weak emotions of a young boy. He didn't last long. I travelled for days into the more desolate parts of Africa. I walked into some tribes hunting grounds and they saw me for what I was and they called their shaman. She looked into my eyes and she said "You are of the devil, his blood runs in your veins and destruction is your only talent" This didn't bother me as much as what she said next "I see a girl, she is beautiful, loyal and pure. She will stop you, she will defeat you" At this I attacked I needed to know who the girl was you see. I tortured that woman until she gave me more. "The girl will have three great friends and will be incredibly talented, she will be held in high esteem by those you wish to destroy. She will live in Glass house". She was incredibly frail, as all humans are and she died soon after. But I have found that girl and she can no longer stop me."

"You can't possibly think that it was me she was talking about" I said, my confusion seemed to have vanished as he had begun to talk about the prophesy the old woman had spoken of.

"It is you my dear. You will not fight against me if you want your three great friends to stay alive and well. You will stand by me and you will not defy me" He said again. Was he crazy?

"Who even are you? I asked unwilling to believe he would hurt Shane, Michael or Eve.

"I'm Amelie's father. I am the Bishop."


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Sorry about the delay. I had exams again and really had to focus on them and it paid off. This is more a filler chapter than anything else so nothing much happens. I'm thinking about finishing this story off pretty soon as the interest seems to be declining. Thanks to those who reviewed

Chapter 16

Claire's point of view 

I looked up at the man - the bishop who stood above me and snorted at his proposition. "As if" I said begging him to let it go. Begging him to think of something else, anything else. "Yes, that is my plan and you will adhere to it" he said looking solemn and very serious. I closed my eyes and the only thing I could see was Shane. He was there behind my eyelids and in my brain. The scary thing was I didn't want him to leave. "You will get on stage with me tonight and tell everyone how much you love me and how you helped me get into town and then those who are loyal to me shall not be blamed. They shall not die; the one who will die will be you." I shook my head at the absurdity of his plan. "Why?" I asked.

"Because silly girl, I cannot merely just waltz into town, I am the enemy and this is my town! Mine!" he replied sounding slightly deranged and beyond rationalization. He stormed towards the door, he opened it and stuck his head out shouting down the corridor. 

Seconds later three men walked through the door. They walked up to the bed that she was chained to. They unlocked the chains and she sat up rubbing at the sore points along her wrists. Her legs were numb but at that minute a women walked through the door, bowed at the bishop and beckoned at me to follow her. I reluctantly stood up and followed the woman, the three guards following closely behind. 

I still wore my clothes from when I was taken but my broken shoes had been removed, an irrational sadness filled me as I padded down a long corridor in only my socks. We abruptly turned left into a room. It was clearly a dressing room with a screen in one corner and a large dressing table in the other covered in an assortment of cosmetics. The woman put her hand on my back and forcibly pushed me into the kitchen chair that awkwardly sat at the ornate table.

I sat and the women picked up a comb and began to brush my hair. She gently pulled through all the tangles and then began to curl it. She put it into a pile on the top of my head and then placed a gold headband on the very top of forehead wrapping it around and tying it gracefully into my hair. She left strands of hair out and placed them artfully around my face. She smiled slightly at her finished work. 

She pointed a finger at me and spun it around. It took me a moment to realise what she wanted. I stood and turned the chair around. I sat down and faced her. She picked up a brush and gently covered my bruises with a layer of concealer and foundation. She swiped a gold tinted blusher across my cheeks and painted my lips a shade of coral. She smiled again, and I wondered why she never talked. 

I was about to ask when another girl walked through the door. This time I knew exactly who she was. She was the tall beautiful blonde who had been with Shane the other night. I sent her a glare. She sent me a full smile showing all her teeth, most predominately though her sharp canines. I just kept glaring she didn't scare me. She held up a clothing bag as if it was a peace offering. She walked over to the screen in the corner and hung the bag from the top. She walked back to the door disappearing behind the frame for a few seconds. She came back in carrying two large boxes and three smaller ones. I looked at them curiously. "You are to change" Katy – the blonde – said to me. I raised my eyebrows. "What if I don't" She sent another smile my way. "Then your friends meet their untimely end" She almost sung the words as if they were happy or funny.

I walked to the screen as Katy walked out of the door closing it deliberately behind her. The mute women hurried after her.

I unzipped the garment bag, if it was meant to be pretty and regal it wasn't working. It was short, very short. The top was covered in gold sequins, the neckline cut low and in a heart shape, showing off generous amount of cleavage. The bottom was slightly puffy with a layered look. It was embroidered with small sequined leaves that matched the headband. I slipped into the dress, and I will admit that it hugged my curves in all the right places. I knelt to open the boxes on the floor. The first large one contained a new strapless bra and a gold thong. What was with all the gold? The second contained a brand new pair of heels, they were gold (no surprises there) the tops were glittery with a solid gold base and glitter filled heels. They were a perfect fit. The small boxes contained a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a necklace. I put them all on and looked at myself.

It wasn't something I would have chosen for myself but it looked okay I guess. If it would stop Shane, Eve and Michael from getting hurt I didn't care.

The guards walked in again shortly followed by The Bishop. They led me out to a car, night had fallen and the streets were eerily silent. As we drove closer towards founders square a crowd formed. All seemed to be heading in the direction on the square. We reached the square. A stage had been set up and a large assembly of people gathered around it. The Bishop smiled at me "Are you ready for the next part of the plan my dear?" he asked. But I had my own plan.


	17. Chapter 17

Ok so …. I'm really sorry for just leaving this story where it is, but to be honest it's terrible. I'm thinking about doing a re-write but this time it will be more of a romance. This will only happen if you want it though so if you are interested please PM me or leave a comment


	18. Chapter 18

A/N : Ok so it's not very long and it's taken me a while to do but I was in Edinburgh for a day and by the time I got home the day after I was so tired. But I saw All Time Low live and that was so amazing. If you haven't heard them you should definitely check them out Anyways thankyou for your great comments you keeping this alive :D

Eves point of view

We drove around in the car a little aimlessly searching for any sign or clue to point us in the right direction. Shane sat next to me in the back of the car. His eyes were fixed on the window as they combed the street desperately searching for anything at all to help. His leg was bouncing up and down and his hands were tapping nervously off his thighs. Although I knew that Shane had feelings for Claire before this moment I now knew that the extent of those feelings was more than any of us could have guessed.

I looked up front to where Michael was sitting. He had a pondering look on his face. "Hey, what's up?" I asked him. His eyes flicked to the back seat. "Have you noticed how there are no lights on, no shops open and no people on the street?" I just looked at him. This was Morganville and with the way this town was run none of these things was a surprise, but being the insightful person that I was I caught the slight emphasis in his voice at the word "people" and I knew exactly what he was talking about. There was only one place they would all gather. Me and Michael shared a look and a nod and we drove off in that direction.

Shane only glanced up once at our change in direction and then returned his gaze to the street passing by the window. His face was pale and his eyes were sunken and believe it or not for the duration of our car ride he offered no sarcastic or cocky comments which in a way was refreshing but also showed just how much Claire's disappearance was affecting him.

We could only get so close to founders square due to the large amount of people gathered within. We all shared a glance, got out of the car and began to walk towards the center. We pushed through people and soon saw a stage. We began to push people out of our way more forcefully and finally made it to a barricade which was guarded at several intervals. We made the unanimous decision to wait awhile before trying to get past the guards, but in my stomach a feeling of utter dread told me that something was going to go terribly astray.

Claires point of view 

I stood at the back of the make-shift stage. Bishop stood beside me a smile on his disgusting face. He glanced down at me and his smile disappeared. It was obvious he saw the look of revulsion on my face as he grabbed my arm hard enough to leave a bruise and dragged me closer to him. he lowered his face to mine so that I could feel his sticky breath on my cheek. "Listen to me you fool, you will do exactly as I say when I tell you to do it, you will not try to escape or try to contact your silly little friends otherwise I will kill you. Understood?" He hissed. Revulsion streamed through me and bile rose in the back of my throat. I nodded, unable to make my throat work or my jaw move to say anything.

He looked around and sent a muscly guy a nod. He nodded back obviously signalling something. I began to feel more and more nervous. Bishop took a step forward dragging me along with him. I staggered along behind him tripping over my heels. We began up the stairs towards the stage. He dragged me towards two microphones set up at the front and only at this point did I look up.

Hundreds of people were gathered in the square. I began to feel faint as Bishop pushed me towards one of the microphones. He looked at me and I took a step forward. He smiled as if he had accomplished something great. He looked out over the crowd and took the final step toward his own microphone. "Hello, residents of Morganville, you stand before me today and many of you may know who I am and many of you may not. I am the Bishop, Amelie's father." Many faces looked shocked at this statement and Bishop let out a horrible laugh. "Ahhhh" He said "I see that your fearless leader had failed to tell you this. Well, back to the business at hand, I am here to reclaim what is mine. Morganville. Its residents, its buildings and its power"

The crowd began to talk amongst its self but my eyes were fixed on three people pressed against the barricade all looking extremely worried. Tears threatened to spill over my eyes as Shane looked back at me. I stared at Eve the best friend I had ever had, and finally at Michael who had given me a home and a family and was also one of the best friends I had ever had. But my eyes were drawn back to Shane. I wished they weren't but they were and I sent him a small reassuring smile even though things probably weren't going to be okay at all.

Bishop looked over at me and I realised I had missed something. He rolled his eyes as if I was a child and said "Tell them how you helped me enter Morganville dear" I stared at him for a while and he became increasingly more and more angry. I turned back towards my microphone as a million thoughts and memories rushed through my head.

"No" I said.

Bishop began to walk towards me. He was inches away from me before I summoned up the courage to grab my heel off my foot and stab him with it. His eyes widened as if he couldn't believe what had happened and then he collapsed, his skin turning a paler white than before. The guards at the barricade rushed onto stage to help the bishop but one of the guards who was stood toward the left of the stage began to walk towards me a menacing look on his face.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: ok so this took longer than expected and is also shorter than expected. Again I have school and family commitments to blame for this. So anyway please comment and tell me what you likes/hated 

Claires point of view 

The gasps and shouts from the crowd slowly filtered away until all I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears. The man began to advance towards me and every instinct I possessed was telling me to run. I took a single step backward with the foot still clad in a heel. I suddenly felt off balanced, more so than I had standing with only one heel on. I tugged at the foot still inside the shoe and found that the heel was stuck in a crack in the stage.

Every muscle in my body turned to lead and every limb seemed to become fixed in stone. My mind however whirred thinking of every single agonisingly painful way this man was going to get his revenge. I was still tugging on my foot and finally it slipped free, but my body was still frozen.

The man still walked forward and he seemed to be moving at an incredibly slow pace. My mind screamed at me to run, to escape but I couldn't move. I was frozen like a deer in headlights.

A familiar voice shouted from the crowd and I knew in an instant that it was Shane. I wanted to turn around and look at him, to see his face, but my eyes were fixed on the man who was now only inches away from me. My eyes shut in preparation for whatever would happen next.

I felt something across my face, a breeze, almost like when a door is shut abruptly or when a book is waved in front of your face. I opened my eyes, the man was gone and a deadly silence had enclosed the area. I turned around back towards where the Bishop had fallen. Many more men stood around his body. Other men that hadn't been there before now stood in various other places around the square, holding down some of the men I recognised as Bishops guards.

My eyes desperately searched the area until I found the man who had been about to attack me on the floor with a wooden pole through his chest. My eyes then roamed the crowd near the barrier. I searched for three faces that would make everything okay when finally I found them an exhalation of breath left my lips in relief and my heart flooded with an emotion I couldn't quite describe.

Shanes point of view 

I looked up at Claire on the stage as the vampire began making his way towards her. My heart beat so hard in my chest I actually put a hand to my chest bone. I pushed against the barrier and when that came to no avail I tried to jump over it. I couldn't take my eyes away from Claire and the vampire afraid that if I took my eyes off them for even one second Claire would be dead and I wouldn't have done anything to intervene.

A single solitary tear slipped down my cheek. I had barely even noticed the vampire who belonged to Amelie holding me back. I strained against his arms trying to get to the stage, to do anything to help Claire.

Suddenly I realised that the stage was no longer full of Bishops men, but it was actually now coated in Amelie's men and guards, some of whom had dead vampires lying at their feet, others who had kept them alive and were simply restraining them.

My head whipped around to where Claire stood, she was staring at me. I could visibly see her chest move in and out as she exhaled and inhaled sharply. I tried to send her a reassuring smile but it came out as more of a grimace as I searched the stage and the areas around it for the vampire who had tried to hurt her.

I saw Oliver towering over the corpse of the vampire and for the first time I felt a sense of admiration towards him. He looked at me as if he sensed my thoughts or feelings and sent me a nod. I nodded back before turning my head back towards Claire. She was staring at Amelie as she stepped daintily over the bodies littering the stage. She made her way towards the microphone stand. "You may all go home now."

I blinked as the absurdity of what she had just said hit me. She offered no lies or explanations for what had just happened and I supposed that explained the town. It was what it looked to be. It was weird and slightly dangerous but it offered no apologies or no explanations. You lived with it and that was your only choice.


End file.
